Freshman Ethan Lottman is one of two freshman moving to individual qualifiers.

Photo Courtesy Scott Bruhn/NU Media Relations

Courtesy: NU Media Relations

04/19/2013

State College, Penn. - The No. 10 Nebraska men's gymnastics team finished team competition for the 2013 season Friday night at the 2013 NCAA Championships in State College, Penn. Facing five of the top twelve schools in the nation, the Huskers finished the night with a team score of 417.550, their second lowest score of the season.

The Huskers started out on high bar, where they saw some difficulties early. Sophomore Josh Ungar kicked off the event for NU, earning a 14.40 for his routine. The Longmeadow, Mass. native was the only Husker to break the 14.00 marker on high bar. Junior Eric Schryver finished second on the event for Nebraska, grabbing a 13.80.

NU then moved to floor for their second rotation. Sam Chamberlain led the rotation from the start, earning a 14.60 for his routine. The freshman tied for the best score on the event among the Huskers with teammate and 2012 All-American, Grant Perdue. Juniors Wyatt Aycock and Mark Ringle also scored above a 14.00 on the event.

After taking bye for the third rotation, Nebraska went to horse. Freshman Ethan Lottman led the Huskers on the event yet again, securing the only score above 14.00 on the event for the Huskers. CJ Schaaf finished behind the Gretna, Neb., native with a 13.55. Schryver rounded out the rotation with a routine that earned a 13.15 from the judges.

The Huskers then moved to rings, where sophomore Robbie Kocks and junior Zach Hedval tied for the team lead. Both athletes earned a 14.50 for their routines. They were followed by junior specialist Donovan Arndt, who scored a 14.20.

Nebraska's fifth rotation was vault. The team earned a team score of 72.30, putting them in fourth of the six competing teams on the event. Junior Micah Christensen started off the rotation for the Huskers, earning a 14.50 for his vault. He held the team lead until the last vault. Perdue snagged a 15.25, just 0.5 points off of his season-high score.

NU finished out the afternoon on parallel bars, with two Huskers posting scores above 14.50. Chamberlain, ranked No. 8 nationally coming into the afternoon, earned a 14.55 for his routine. Just after the freshman's leading routine, junior Mark Ringle finished out the afternoon's competition with a team-high 14.95 on parallel bars.

The Huskers finished out the afternoon in sixth, missing out on the qualifying positions into the team finals. Junior Wyatt Aycock transfered into Saturday's all-around finals, while five other athletes made it into the individual event qualifiers. Freshmen Lottman and Chamberlain both qualified, on pommel horse and parallel bars respectively. Sophomores Perdue (vault) and Josh Ungar (high bar) also qualified, along with Ringle, who made it on parallel bars.

Nebraska's six qualifiers will compete during day two of NCAA championship competition in State College, Penn. Team and All-Around qualifiers will compete in finals tomorrow, while individuals will compete on their qualified events in hopes of moving on to individual finals on Sunday night. Day 2 will begin at 7 p.m. EST in Rec Hall. Competition will be streamed live at NCAA Championship Central again.